Chapter 19
continues with the details of the overview that
was presented in Isaiah 17:1-6: The
Burden of Damascus and continued
into the article Woe to the
Land of Whirring Wings. As stated in
Isaiah 17, the overview provides a very brief
overview of the seven year tribulation period
from the time that Damascus is totally destroyed
up until the Return of Jesus Christ in Power and
Glory to establish His millennial kingdom.
Isaiah then provides additional details about
the Church, Israel, and the Gentiles during the
tribulation period. Chapter 18 provides
additional details about the Church in America
as the focal point for the Church during the
first half of the tribulation period. Chapter 19
provides additional details about events that
will take place in Egypt at the beginning of the
seven year tribulation period. It includes
massive destruction of Egypt and the reign of
Antichrist (See vs 4) over Egypt. It
appears certain that the massive destruction
comes as a result of a nuclear attack by
Antichrist—the false messiah of Israel—upon
Egypt (See vs 17). Egypt will see
Antichrist as the savior of Israel at this
time. The following passage of Scripture
provides an even more detailed description of
this destruction of Egypt: (Ezek 30:6-16 KJV) Thus saith the
LORD; They also that uphold Egypt (i.e., Arab
nations) shall fall; and the pride of her
power shall come down: from the tower of Syene
shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the
Lord GOD. {7} And they shall be desolate in
the midst of the countries that are desolate,
and her cities shall be in the midst of the
cities that are wasted. {8} And they shall
know that I am the LORD, when I have set a
fire in Egypt, and when all her helpers shall
be destroyed. {9} In that day shall messengers
go forth from me in ships to make the careless
Ethiopians afraid, and great pain shall come
upon them, as in the day of Egypt: for, lo, it
cometh. {10} Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will
also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by
the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
(i.e., Antichrist, king of New Babylon). {11}
He and his people with him, the terrible of
the nations, shall be brought to destroy the
land: and they shall draw their swords against
Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. {12}
And I will make the rivers dry, and sell the
land into the hand of the wicked: and I will
make the land waste, and all that is therein,
by the hand of strangers: I the LORD have
spoken it. {13} Thus saith the Lord GOD; I
will also destroy the idols, and I will cause
their images to cease out of Noph; and there
shall be no more a prince of the land of
Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of
Egypt. {14} And I will make Pathros desolate,
and will set fire in Zoan, and will execute
judgments in No. {15} And I will pour my fury
upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will
cut off the multitude of No. {16} And I will
set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain,
and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall
have distresses daily. In the above
passage it is Antichrist who will destroy Egypt,
but he will be acting as the instrument of God
against Egypt, but he will not know it.
God will also use Antichrist to punish Israel,
and bring them back to God later in the last
half of the tribulation period. The above
sequence of events will occur early in the seven
year tribulation period when Antichrist as the
leader of the ten-horned beast will trample down
the Leopard (i.e., Egypt—Daniel 7) and the Four
Wings on Its Back (i.e., Syria, Iraq, Jordan and
Saudi Arabia). When this takes place,
Israel will definitely think Antichrist is their
messiah, since he will have defeated their
enemies who have persecuted them so long.
Unfortunately, Antichrist will later--in the
last half of the tribulation period—be
responsible for the deaths of more Jews than
anyone in the history of Israel. The Hebrew word
for Assyria in chapter 19 means Asshur.
Asshur was the second son of Shem and represents
the Arab people who are the brothers of the
Jews. Therefore, Egypt represents the
world and the world system in type, and Assyria
represents the Arab world. Israel sits
between the world and the Arabs. The end
of chapter 19 portrays the world, the Jews and
the Arabs coming together in unity with Jesus as
the Savior and Messiah of all three. There
will be peace, and war will be a thing of the
past. The Arabs will no longer hate their
brothers, the Jews, and the world will no longer
hate the Jews. With this brief
overview of chapter 19, we will now attempt a
verse by verse exegesis of the chapter. (Isa 19:1
KJV) The burden of Egypt. Behold, the
LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall
come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt
shall be moved at his presence, and the
heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of
it.This verse is
not accurate in depicting the Lord as coming as
a cloud over Egypt, but it is the Lord who
allows the Antichrist complete authority to go
in and destroy much of Egypt. This verse
is actually a detailed presentation of the
fulfillment of the white horseman in Revelation
6:1-2 as follows: (Rev 6:1-2 KJV) (1) And I saw when the
Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as
it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, Come and see. (2) And I saw,
and behold a white horse: and he that sat on
him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him:
and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
A paraphrase of
Isaiah 19:1 is: The doom of
Egypt. Behold, the Lord dispatches above Egypt
a swift dark cloud, and it shall come against
Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall shake at
the ground’s surface, and the middle of Egypt
shall melt or dissolve at the center of the
cloud. The cloud is
clearly a nuclear explosion (i.e., swift dark
cloud) in the middle of Egypt, and the
devastation will cause the complex idolatrous
system of Egypt to shake and topple over.
Whether this nuclear missile or bomb comes from
Israel or the USA is uncertain, but the
devastation is attributed to Antichrist and
Israel according to verses 4 and 17. (Isa 19:2 KJV) And I will set the
Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they
shall fight every one against his brother, and
every one against his neighbour; city against
city, and kingdom against kingdom. The destruction
will be so great in Egypt that it will create
utter chaos with the Egyptians fighting against
each other in a last minute struggle for
survival. Apparently, the flight for
survival from the nuclear holocaust will result
in anarchy in the whole of Egypt. (Isa 19:3 KJV) And the spirit of
Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I
will destroy the counsel thereof: and they
shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers,
and to them that have familiar spirits, and to
the wizards. A paraphrase:
And there shall be a void of life in
the middle of Egypt, and I will destroy the
plans and purposes of Egypt, and the people
will turn to idols and spirits of the dead,
and to the mediums and spiritists for answers.
The Egyptians
who are still alive will turn to supernatural
means for an understanding of what has taken
place. (Isa 19:4 KJV) And the Egyptians
will I give over into the hand of a cruel
lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them,
saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts.After the
nuclear holocaust, the Egyptians will have
Antichrist ruling over them (Daniel 11:42).
(Isa 19:5
KJV) And the waters shall fail from
the sea, and the river shall be wasted and
dried up. The Hebrew word
for sea also means the Nile River, so a
paraphrase of this verse is as follows:

And the waters of the
Nile River shall dry up, and the streams and
irrigation canals shall be destroyed and dry
up. Egypt utilizes
a series of irrigation canals that run off from
the Nile River to irrigate its farmland.
These canals will be destroyed and dry up at the
same time that the Nile runs dry. The Nile
River is the lifeblood of Egypt. The
economy of Egypt depends upon the Nile River for
survival. (Isa 19:6
KJV) And they shall turn the rivers
far away; and the brooks of defence shall be
emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags
shall wither. Both the Blue
Nile and the White Nile shall change its
courses, and the canals or collateral trenches
off of the Nile shall become narrower and dry
up. The streams of the Nile delta and the
Suez Canal will also dry up and become waste.
(Isa 19:7
KJV) The paper reeds by the brooks, by
the mouth of the brooks, and every thing
sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven
away, and be no more.The fields by
the canals, by the edge of the irrigation
canals, and all of the crops shall dry up and be
dispersed, and they shall be no more. (Isa 19:8
KJV) The fishers also shall mourn, and
all they that cast angle into the brooks
shall lament, and they that spread nets upon
the waters shall languish. The fisherman
shall mourn, and all that cast hooks into the
canals shall lament, and they that cast nets
into the Nile shall languish (Isa 19:9
KJV) Moreover they that work in fine
flax, and they that weave networks, shall be
confounded.One of the
primary industries in Egypt is the making of
linen from the flax plant. “Networks” is
white cloth or cotton. Both of these
industries will fail along with the fishing
industry. These are the three primary
industries in Egypt. (Isa 19:10 KJV) And they shall be
broken in the purposes thereof, all that make
sluices and ponds for fish. The people who
work in these industries for wages (i.e.,
sluices) will be dejected and heartsick.
“Ponds” means stagnant or sick, and “fish” is
the word for the life or the heart.
Literally, the people will be stagnant in their
life, or they will be heartsick and dejected. (Isa 19:11
KJV) Surely the princes of Zoan are
fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors
of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye
unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the
son of ancient kings?Zoan or Tanis
is a city that was the ancient capitol of Egypt
from 1070 BC up until 655 BC. This was the
time Isaiah wrote his prophecies. Thus,
the princes of Zoan represent the government of
Egypt and its activities. Isaiah is saying
the government of Egypt played the fool, yet
they thought they were wise. The
government of Egypt is foolish because they war
against and fight against God’s chosen
people. America will make this same tragic
mistake in the near future. Both Egypt and
America will pay for this foolish mistake by
their governments. (Isa 19:12 KJV) Where are they?
where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee
now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts
hath purposed upon Egypt. Isaiah mocks
the so-called wise men of Egypt, and he now
dares them to tell the people of Egypt what God
has done to them. (Isa 19:13 KJV) The princes of
Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are
deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even
they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
Noph is the
city of Memphis and represents the religious
leadership of Egypt. Isaiah says the
political leaders were fools and the religious
leaders were led astray. The political and
religious leaders were the cornerstones of
Egypt, and it is because of them that Egypt is
now a wasteland. (Isa 19:14 KJV) The LORD hath
mingled a perverse spirit in the midst
thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in
every work thereof, as a drunken man
staggereth in his vomit. The Lord has
caused an evil spirit to be in the midst of
Egypt’s leaders, and they have caused Egypt to
err so greatly that she is like a drunk man
wallowing around in his own vomit. (Isa 19:15
KJV) Neither shall there be any work
for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or
rush, may do.All of Egypt’s
livelihood has been removed for the top leaders
and the lowest person in Egypt. Also,
there is no work for the management and
insignificant workers in industry. (Isa 19:16
KJV) In that day shall Egypt be like
unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear
because of the shaking of the hand of the
LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it.In the day of
this destruction that shall come upon Egypt, the
Egyptians will be as fearful as women because of
the brandishing of God’s weapons of power over
them. Nuclear weapons today are so awesome
in their destructive power that few people
understand the total devastation that can come
from them. The bombs that fell on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were so awesome that
Japan had stated that they would die before they
surrendered, but they were so overwhelmed by the
power that they became extremely afraid and
surrendered. The bombs of today are 100
times more powerful. (Isa 19:17 KJV) And the land of
Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one
that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in
himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of
hosts, which he hath determined against it.
This seems to
indicate that it is actually Israel that was
responsible for the bombs or missiles.
Egypt will realize that the Jews are God’s
people and they do not have a chance against
fighting against God. This is the turning
point in Egypt’s conversion. (Isa 19:18
KJV) In that day shall five cities in
the land of Egypt speak the language of
Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one
shall be called, The city of destruction.In the day that
the destruction comes upon Egypt, there will be
a conversion in Egypt to the God of
Israel. Five is the number of grace, and
the Hebrew word for cities means a a place of
waking up. “Speak the language of Canaan”
is a periphrastic phrase that means that five
cities in Egypt will convert to the God of
Israel (i.e., Canaan as the land of the
Jews). This is confirmed by the phrase
“swear to the Lord of Hosts”. One of these
cities will be called the City of Destruction.
(Isa 19:19 KJV) In that day shall
there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of
the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border
thereof to the LORD. It is strongly
believed that the Great Pyramid of Giza is this
altar, and this pillar or memorial stone to
which Isaiah refers. This pyramid is in
the very center of Egypt as measured by an arc
drawn around the delta created by the Nile out
into the Mediterranean Sea. The pyramid is
also on the border between upper and lower
Egypt. The cornerstone or capstone is also
missing from this pyramid. Jesus is the
capstone of the Great Pyramid and He will be
placed in his rightful place when Egypt converts
to a belief in Jesus Christ. (Isa 19:20
KJV) And it shall be for a sign and
for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the
land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the
LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall
send them a saviour, and a great one, and he
shall deliver them.There are many
signs in the Great Pyramid that point to Jesus
Christ as the coming King over Israel and the
whole world. The book by Clarence Larkin,
Dispensational
Truth, has an excellent chapter on the
teachings contained in the Great Pyramid.
Somehow this pyramid will cause the Egyptians to
cry out to the Lord, and he will save them and
deliver them from the oppression of Antichrist.
(Isa 19:21
KJV) And the LORD shall be known to
Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD
in that day, and shall do sacrifice and
oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the
LORD, and perform it. The Egyptians
will know the Lord at the time the millennial
kingdom is established, and they will be
faithful unto him. They will make
sacrifices of themselves to God, and they will
pay tribute to the Lord. They will make
promises to God, and they will keep these
promises. (Isa 19:22 KJV) And the LORD
shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it:
and they shall return even to the LORD, and he
shall be entreated of them, and shall heal
them. This is a
summation verse of the whole chapter. The
Lord will first smite Egypt severely with the
Antichrist as His instrument of punishment, and
then He will heal or deliver it when Egypt turns
to the Lord in prayer and supplication. (Isa 19:23 KJV) In that day shall
there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria,
and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and
the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians
shall serve with the Assyrians. This verse
portrays the millennial kingdom when a highway
will run from Egypt through Israel and into the
land known at this time as Assyria. Egypt
is west of Israel, and Assyria is east of
Israel. Egypt typifies the world, and
Assyria typifies the Arab nations, who are the
brothers of the Israelites. (Isa 19:24
KJV) In that day shall Israel be the
third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a
blessing in the midst of the land:Israel will be
the bond that unifies the whole world into the
worship of Jehovah God in the Person of Jesus
Christ. Israel is considered to be the
very center of the world. (Isa 19:25
KJV) Whom the LORD of hosts shall
bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people,
and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel
mine inheritance.From this time
forward there will be no essential difference
between the nations in their relationship to
God, but it will still be the God of Israel Who
has obtained this recognition by the
nations. It is the nation of Israel, as
promised in the Bible, that has become the
medium of blessing to the world. This ends the
detailed portion that received the overview in
Isaiah 17:1-6. We have seen the details of
what happens to the Church, Israel, the
Gentiles, America, Egypt and the Arab world
during the seven year tribulation period that
begins shortly after Damascus is totally
destroyed. The next main event that all
Christians can look forward to as signaling the
beginning of the seven year tribulation period
is the destruction of Damascus. This event
happens just before the Firstfruits Rapture
takes place. It will be the signal for the
Midnight Cry to commence. The five wise
virgins are currently saying “The Bridegroom
Cometh” to the five foolish virgins, and the
foolish virgins are beginning to stir and come
awake. The foolish virgins are replying
“Go to sleep, for no man knows the day and the
hour.” When Damascus is destroyed, the
five wise virgins will begin shouting “The
Bridegroom Cometh!” and the five foolish virgins
will quickly awaken to the truth, and begin
asking for more oil from the wise virgins.
Of course, it will be too late at that time to
secure more oil in time for the Firstfruits
Rapture.